FDA approves updated COVID vaccines with restrictions on who can receive them

Some Americans with underlying conditions are approved for the vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for some Americans.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in adults aged 65 and older and for those between ages 5 and 64 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe COVID.

In a press release, the companies said their 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine will target a sublineage known as LP.8.1, an offshoot of the JN.1 subvariant, in line with FDA guidance to more closely match circulating strains.

"These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a post on X. "The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three."

Americans who are 6 months and older and at high risk can receive the Moderna vaccine; those 12 years and older can get the Novavax vaccine, according to Kennedy.